Who’s Your Competition? … Everyone? … or No One?
November 27, 2012
In response to my post The Win-Win Benefits Of Collaborative Professional Service Marketing, Anne Galloway commented:
Never view the competition as the enemy!
A couple of years ago I met someone who I first believed was competition (of course she wasn’t because of our individual skills and experience) – we now run successful workshops together, in addition to our own businesses. It’s great to have someone to bounce ideas off and our workshops are far more dynamic than if we presented them alone. We have since tightened up on our individual niches and focus the workshops more towards these niches so we both get more clients. So collaboration is definitely a win-win.
Gotta love collaborative win-win scenarios like the one Anne helped to create. Thanks for sharing your experience Anne.
I really like the first sentence of her comment. Among the question that it raises for me is ‘who is your competition?’
Everyone Is Your Competition
Realistically, our competition can can include any business from the largest multinational corporation to the neighbor running a yard sale. In one way or another, they are all competing for our attention and income.
Take for example, my experience of partnering with one of the largest Canadian banks as outlined in the post about Collaborative Professional Service Marketing. Each of us in our way was competing for the attention and money of owners of small businesses.
However, by partnering on the book and speaking tour, we were able to help each other better serve a small slice of a common market.
No One Is Your Competition
On the other hand, since each of us is unique, no one provides the same kind of service, the same way that we do. Given this individual distinctiveness, none of us has any competition.
Anne’s experience confirms the distinctiveness of seemingly competing service professionals…and the benefits of collaboration.
As Anne pointed out…Never view the competition as the enemy! Let’s reframe our perception of the competition. Instead of seeing other businesses as chasing the same potential clients as you, try thinking of them as potential allies working together to better attract and serve more clients.
Professional Service Marketing Is A Team Sport
November 22, 2012
In response to my post, The Win-Win Benefits Of Collaborative Professional Service Marketing, Susan Oakes commented:
“I agree with you Larry about collaboration.
It has many advantages especially when others have additional skills or experience. It is really like working in teams which is normal when you work in marketing in larger companies.”
Good point Susan, I totally agree, especially the last sentence.
Joining A Marketing Team
Referring back to my post about collaborative professional service marketing, in collaborating with TD Bank, I was in effect joining the bank’s marketing team on a temporary basis for a specific purpose. This approach allowed me to add my skills and expertise to the resources of the bank’s marketing team. Acting as a member of the team, I made my own contribution to delivering value added benefits to bank customers.
As it turned out, this was more than a win-win scenario. It was a win-win-win scenario. These wins went to the bank, its customers and me.
Attractive as this example is, it is not the only model for professional service marketing as a team sport. Any other business that does, or could, serve the same clients as you can become part of your marketing team.
Building My Own Marketing Team
In my case, there are a wide range of potential team members such as PR and social media consultants; graphic designer; copywriter; web designer; etc.
As team members, we would help each other with our marketing, each contributing his or her skills and resources, much as I did with the TD Bank marketing team. And to escalate this win-win situation into a win-win-win scenario, we would also use our skills and resources to helping each other’s clients.
To learn how a virtual marketing team can help you win big, check out Marketing Is A Team Sport.
This is a recently revised version of Chapter 9 of my book How To Market Professional Services.
While you are checking out this chapter, think about how you can contribute guest content, much like the section entitled “Why Hire A Marketing Coach?”. I’d be happy to give you the same space and credit that I gave Jaco Grobbelaar for his guest content.
Value For Value: A Solution To A Perplexing Marketing Problem
November 14, 2012
Do you, or some one you know, face the perplexing problem of wanting help with professional service marketing… but lack the cash flow to pay to for the help?
If so, you are not alone. Many outstanding service professionals occasionally face the temporary condition of cashlessness.
Maybe I can help resolve that perplexing marketing problem.
Like all businesses and self-employed professionals, I obviously need cash flow.
However, like all other businesses, I need and what other things as well. What do I need/want?
- referrals
- web design & upgrade
- graphic design for my website
- e-book design and formatting
- new smart phone 🙂
With the exception of referrals, I can certainly exchange some of my fee-generated money for these things. But I can also also exchange the value of my coaching service for the value of other people’s goods and services. And that’s exactly what I am prepared to do, for a limited number of service professionals.
If you, or some one you know, believe that with my coaching help, you can attract more and perhaps better clients, I’d like help. And if you are facing the temporary condition of cashlessness, instead of exchanging value of cash, let’s exchange value for value.
If you know service professionals who might be ideal clients for me, in return for my coaching help, you might referral some of these clients to me.
Similarly, if you provide services or goods that I have listed, you could exchange appropriate goods or services in return for coaching help. It’s also possible that you could provide a different product or service that would help make me healthier, wealthier or wiser. That could work too.
The bottom line: temporary cashlessness need not be an obstacle to attracting new clients. I’m quite prepared to exchange value for value. What value can you being to the exchange?
Larry
PS:
To learn more about my coaching services, see: Coaching on Demand and Ongoing Coaching.
3 Good Things About Losing An ‘Important’ Client
October 26, 2012
What makes one client appear more important than the others?
Personally, I think all clients are important. If we have taken the time and energy to qualify and accept them as ideal clients, does that not make them important?
For most service professionals, important clients generate lots of fee revenue.
Financial issues aside, losing an ‘important’ client is not always and automatically a bad thing.
Here are 3 good things about losing an ‘important’ client.
1. It’s A Good Wake-Up Call
With a steady flow of income from an ‘important’ client, it’s easy to forget about such things as providing great service for all clients and marketing to attract more and better clients.
Great client service helps generate repeat and referral business from existing clients. And good marketing attracts the kinds of clients that you love to serve.
Nothing emphasizes the importance of focusing on serving existing clients and attracting new ones better than the loss of a high-revenue client.
2. ‘Important’ Clients Are Not Always Ideal Clients
One law firm in which I worked had a mid-sized mortgage lender as a client. This client insisted that its clients, the mortgagors, have the necessary legal work done by our firm. The steady flow of fee revenue ensured all of us that we would receive our pay checks.
But the mortgagors were among the most annoying and obnoxious clients I have ever worked with. With their over-fed sense of entitlement, they were unhappy with everything from having to deal with our law firm to our unwillingness to go to their homes on weekends to look after the legal work.
Nothing pleased them. But as long as the fee revenue continued to flow, the firm eagerly accepted each new client file.
I was happy when I left the security of the steady revenue flow in favor of choosing the clients I wanted to serve.
3. Opportunity To Revise Your Plan For Success
When a high-revenue client leaves, clearly one of our priorities is to replace lost revenue.
What better time to consider new and potentially more profitable revenue sources?
Replacing lost revenue does not mean delivering the same service that produced the lost revenue. Perhaps there are other services that could deliver but have never had the time because of your commitment to the now departed ‘important’ client.
But why stop there? Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate your business plan. It’s possible that the client’s departure is a sign of things to come.
Every cloud has its silver lining.
How would you turn the loss of a high-revenue client into a positive development?
